nickkiwick

<ul><li>This was inspired by Joel's experiences playing at The Executive Room, a piano bar in Los Angeles. He worked there for six months in 1972 after his first solo album,&nbsp;<strong>Cold Spring Harbor</strong>, tanked. The characters in the song are based on real people Joel encountered while working at The Executive Room.</li><li><br></li><li>The "waitress practicing politics" is Elizabeth Weber, who ended up becoming his first wife when Joel married her in 1973 (they divorced in 1982).</li><li>Joel played under the name Bill Martin, which explains why the patrons in the song call him Bill. Martin is his middle name.</li><li>Joel recalled to the&nbsp;<em>Metro</em>&nbsp;newspaper July 6, 2006 his time playing at The Executive Room: "It was a gig I did for about six months just to pay rent. I was living in LA and trying to get out of a bad record contract I'd signed. I worked under an assumed name, the Piano Stylings of Bill Martin, and just bulls--ted my way through it. I have no idea why that song became so popular. It's like a karaoke favorite. The melody is not very good and very repetitious, while the lyrics are like limericks. I was shocked and embarrassed when it became a hit. But my songs are like my kids and I look at that song and think: 'My kid did pretty well.'"</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/billy-joel/piano-man" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.songfacts.com/facts/billy-joel/piano-man</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Felt like singing a BJ tune today...Thanks for listening friends. :)</p>